Unbound

Chapter Three Hundred And Eight - 308

Chapter Three Hundred And Eight - 308

Pit laid about on his back, wings askew and legs in the air while he snored. His tongue lolled, hanging almost in his own eye, but the tenku's rest was complete for all of that. Felix wished he was half so relaxed.

Felix watched the doors. Glared at them, really. As if they would suddenly move, shift, or otherwise give him the answers he sought if only he stared hard enough. How long had he been at it? Time felt...weird in the Path. Stretchy. Felix could recall fleeing the Urges just moments ago, but it easily could have been hours. His Born Trait only muddied those waters, but the point stood.

"Karys, how long have I been here?" he asked.

I...find myself unsure. A shrug, or a suggestion of one from the sword. But such is the way of liminal spaces.

"Liminal...what's that, Latin?" Felix asked.

It is the words of magi, Felix. I was never of their orders, but I know enough.Or I did, once. A pause. A liminal space is a point of transition, from one place to another. A threshold.

"A Door," Felix suggested.

Quite right. Places such as these pull from the Void, a

"The same as Domains," Felix said with sudden recollection. The Maw had mentioned such things once, when he'd wandered the Void. "Time moved weird in the Void, too."

My understanding is that it functions as a dream, or perhaps dreams touch upon the Void. I am...I am unclear on the subject. I believe the Paths utilize the liminal space afforded by the Void, peeling it back to create this for you.

Felix looked about at the drab interior. Even the chandeliers slowly rotating above them were wooden and filled with dust. It was not very impressive, and that was reflected in the doors themselves. "So this is like a Domain of my own?"

Of a sort. A Domain, or even a Lair, is not as specialized as this. Paths are catered to they who owned the Omen Key.

"Hm. So are we moving faster or slower than outside?"

There is no way to tell, unfortunately. Not unless you try to tear apart these walls, and that is impossible. You would rip your hands bloody before ever leaving a scratch. It has been tried before....beforeit has been tried.

Karys was getting worse. Felix wished he had cared only as a friendhe thought of Karys as a friend, at leastbut more than that, Felix feared the knowledge he'd lose if the Paragon's memories dissipated completely. The advantage lost, he thought with an inward sneer at himself. I shouldn't care about that, but it's hard not to, especially here.

With a frustrated grunt, more at himself than the situation, Felix rolled to his feet. Pit snorted, woke, and watched him blearily through a single half lidded eye. He took it for granted now, how easily he moved and exerted himself, but not even an appreciation for his physical advancement was enough to appease the sour roil in his belly. He walked to the middle door, the dark red one. Not a single detail about them had clued Felix into their purpose. Was he meant to pick one blindly? What if he chose the wrong one?

Felix frowned, running his fingers over the scratched paint of the door. It was worn down by constant use and none of it gentle. It reminded him a little of the doors to the church off 4th Street back home. The place his family had long attended, well after Felix had grown tired of religion in general. He snorted. He supposed he didn't feel much different about religion now either, though his atheism had been soundly rebuffed. He wasn't a fan, but it was hard to deny the existence of gods when they tried to kill him or worse.

His eyes widened. What was that? For a brief moment, Felix had felt something quiver beneath his hands. The door. Or something beyond it, or...What?

It was coming from him.

Felix placed his hand on the door again, but this time he focused inward, toward his core space. The solar system formed around him, dual cores in the center, abyss and divine sprout, with his Skills arrayed in expanding concentric circles. There, settled in the closest row near his cores, was the origin of the faint trembling.

Ravenous Tithe?

His Skill shook as he kept his hand pressed against the red door, like a staving creature barely restraining itself from a meal. Why so eager? He looked at the door, flaring his Manasight once again, but just as before his Manasight was useless in that place. All he saw was a red door. But what would happen if I ate it?

He'd done it before, eating objects, though it afforded him very little Essence compared to monsters or the occasional person. But would it mean he was choosing that path if he Tithed the door? Or could he eat each one and then decide? And would eating them even do anything? He hoped it would let him get a glimpse of the Path ahead, but he had no way of knowing for sure.

Felix fell back, thinking. His Ravenous Tithe had grown since he'd first received it. Before, he'd had to "claim" his targets or at least be touching them. Repeatedly now, he'd pulled in Essence from across battlefields so long as he has been the one to kill them. Can't kill doors, though. Hm.

Shadow Whip!

He split the single whip into three easily enough, while the end of each whip became a grabby little hand that would affix to most surfaces. He snapped it forward, and all three hit the doors at the same time. They struck true, but that wasn't a concern with his Perception and Dexterity; that they held fast was the greater relief.

"Pit, stand back. I'm not really sure what'll happen here." Once his Companion backed into the dim hallway, Felix took a breath. "Here goes nothing."

Ravenous Tithe!

It took some doing, but Felix's Will eventually overcame whatever inertia the doors had: with a monstrous roar, all three doors collapsed into smoke and flashing light, pulled inexorably into his channels. Pure darkness laid behind each of them, Void-like even.

"Okay," Felix said slowly, letting his Shadow Whip dissolve back into his channels. The doors were open and nothing had exploded. He was gonna call that a success. "Okay, I think"

A Choice Has Been Made.

"What?"Even Pit made a confused noise at that. "I didn't make a choice! That's the whole point."

The Door Is Open.

ERROR

Multiple Doors Open.

Reconfiguring Paths.

Stand By.

The room flexed, as it had before, and suddenly the three open doorways became one single massive portal edged by chipping wood and peeling paint. Everything rippled, waves rising from solid surfaces in an upsettingly familiar manner.

"Pit! Converge!"

There was a flash of light before the long hallway wrapped around Felix's form. Pit nestled breathlessly into his Spirit, but was peering curiously out of Felix's eyes.

Why do I keep doing this?

That was the last thought he had before the entire world rippled and shattered into blue-gold light.

The Fool.

Wise And Unknowing, Brash And Kind.

Choices Define Us.

The Path begins.

Felix landed roughly, as if falling from a great height. He stumbled and tripped onto something soft. A couch.

His couch. His apartment.

He swept his eyes around, seeing the tiny studio he'd once lived in, recreated in perfect detail down to the takeout containers piled next to the overfull trashcan. Outside two small windows, a storm raged in the night sky, the flash of lightning the only illumination in the tiny apartment.

A phone rang.

He fumbled for it, pushing aside dirty clothes and dishes until he pulled the small rectangle from the pile. It flashed and buzzed, on silent. His Mindmind?felt foggy, but he answered it. "Yeah?"

"Bumble! Have you heard from your sister? It's been hours since she said she was coming home, and I haven't heard anything! Please tell me she's with you!"

"Wait, wait, Mom, slow down," Felix saidFelix? He rubbed the bridge of his nose. Everything felt...hazy. Had he fallen asleep on the couch again? "Where's Gabby?"

"Where'sshe went to that party. The one you were supposed to go to!"

"What? Oh," he blinked and suddenly remembered. The party. The yacht. That had been hours ago. "I didn't go. I uh, I just didn't"

"Have you gotten any phone calls from her?" His mom sounded at the edge of panic.

"Lemme check." He pulled his phone from his ear and thumbed through his messages. He'd had exactly forty seven messages from his sister, mostly texts, and a few voicemails. They were all about getting him out with her, to the party. To get over his ex. They turned berating after a while, but the last few were concerning.

Gabby: C'mon! My friend wanted to meet you! It'll be fun and if you don't show up I'll disown you!

Gabby: Hey. Where are you? Things are weird.

Gabby: Come soon. Please. I need help.

Gabby: Help. She's hurt! They took her!

After that, the messages were garbled, like the text itself was glitching.

His heart was racing, trying to beat out of his chest. Images of a woman, drugged unconscious, of smug idiots standing over her. The girl. Her friend. Iwhat is this? How could he know what she looked like, or what had happened? He shook his head. He was still groggy from sleep.

"Bumble! Did you? Hear from her?" her tinny voice sounded on edge. She had always been convinced the worst could happen at any time...and maybe it had. That vision felt so real.

"Mom, yeah, I've got some messages from her. Don't worry, I'll take care of this, you just get some sleep and I'll call you with an update in a little bit. Okay?" He put on his calmest voice, hoping he could talk her down a bit. Thunder crashed outside. "It's storming outside right now, but I can make some calls at least."

"Don't go out into it, Bumble. Its a tropical storm that came out of nowhere. I don't want to lose track of you too."

"I won't, Mom." He peered out his windows. The sky was black but flashed with sheets of blue-white illumination. "But I don't" Something shifted out there, in the rain. It had the shape of an immense figure, wreathed in...but that was impossible. "I can't wait for it to pass, Mom. Gabby she's in danger."

How did he know that? Lightning flashed, again and again, and the certainty remained. She was in danger. She was taken, instead of me.

Where had that thought come from?

Lightning. Something about lightning. Thunder hit, so hard the world felt like it was rocking. He felt his apartment twist, going askew, as something other ripped across his consciousness. A force. A Will that could not be denied.

"Bumble? Bumble are you there?"

A connection to the lightning. A door.

This isn't me! This isn't what happened!

He reached out. He had to find her! He reached out!

Lightning came, and the wall exploded.

The Tower.

Weather The Storm, 'Ware The Lightning.

The Path Continues.

The streets were dark with night, slick with rain. The world was rain, all of it falling, surrounding him. He panted, out of shape with a stitch in his side, but still he ran. He couldn't stop. He couldn't.

They took her. They took her instead of me. He knew that, was certain of it. But who had taken her? Where? I have to get to the marina.

His car hadn't worked when he'd tried it. Had he tried it? There was a fog in his mindhisMind?but he knew he had to run. Water poured from the sky, sluicing down the streets like imitation rivers. Yet not imitations for long, as waist high waves crested the corner ahead. 4th Street and St Paul converged, waves crashing in fifteen foot high swells, and all of it was coming at him.

He turned down an alley, one still dry enough. The roads were flooding, but he had to make it to the docks. To the yacht. He had to stop it. To stop what? Lightning burst in sheets above him, too close, vibrant and blue-white.

His lightning. Something pressed against the backs of his eyes, against his spine.

How could he forget!

His sister was gone, but that's not what happened!

The Path! I walk the Path!

Water roared ahead, splashing through the darkness, and among the cresting waves ran undulating creatures. Too many legs, too many eyes, of smoke and shadow and fire. They shrieked!

Giant icicles ripped from the sky, stabbing down into them all and freezing the waves. Felix skidded to a stop, just shy of a brutalized monstrosity, its flesh half-frozen even as it dissolved into light-streaked smoke. Another shriek, this one of furious victory, sounded from above.

"Pit!" he shouted, the words out of his mouth before he could think them.

FELIX!

"Felix?" he asked, shuddering from the contact of...of whatever that was. "Who is?"

Behind you!

He spun in time to see more of the nightmares crawling down the buildings to either side of him. Giant icicles came down and skewered many, but more rose from the dark and the water with every heartbeat.

RUN!

He ran. Questions swirled in his brain, so many questions, least of all was the name of that winged thing that saved him. He ran, and the monsters gave chase.

Thunder rocked the city, the streets trembling with every strike, and lightning flashed far above. It was growing, the storm. How far would it grow? He stared up as he ran, unable to tear his eyes away, as clouds the size of mountains were wreathed in brilliant lightning and shattered. Yet more clouds always came, all of them of ill Intent and foul Affinity.

He almost fell, the unfamiliar words burning in his Mind. His Body ached, but not as much as he'd feared, his muscles burned but it was a faint sensation. Stronger was the fear. The monsters were right behind him!

Fight, Felix! Fight!

"Fight?" he gasped breathlessly. He couldn't fight! He had never!

Lightning flashed and thunder crashed. The street buckled, rippled beneath him. He was thrown. Nightmare creatures swirled beneath him as he arced into the air, maws open, claws and mandibles and burning eyes ready. Eager.

FIGHT!

From within him, from somewhere else, he felt an answer. Fury raged, a distant feeling that hammered into the foreground, answered in kind by the winged creature in the sky. He feels it, all of it, everything, and Felix reached to the heavens.

Adamant Discord!

And brought them crashing down.

Wheel of Fortune.

All Things Turn Upon The Tides.

The Path Continues.

The storm raged, but he was among the clouds. Above them. Apart of them. Felix surges with the winds, with the lightning itself, riding upon it. He remembered, what little there is to recall. Of Pit and Felix and who he was; who he had become. Creatures of smoke and cloud rose against him, monstrous, but his power wiped them away. Others rose in their place, but the power raged to be used, and Felix didn't hesitate.

Gabby! They took her! Why? Because I wasn't there? He had slept through the yacht party, through the violence on deck, and the lightning. The one that had taken him from Earth. But that hadn't happened this time. Felix knew it wasn't real, couldn't be, but everything felt real. Is this what happened when I left? Monsters in Fort Lauderdale? In the sky?

A shape manifested from the storm around him, one formed of smoke and fire and darkness. It was only vaguely humanoid, but it seethed with shapes that changed with every breath. Spines and fines and claws and teeth, eyes that roiled about the storm, fires burning behind veils of shadow. It screamed, and the whole world screamed with it, deafening him. Nearly knocking him from the sky.

His Perception tangled on an object behind him, a door, fashioned out of dim light. Knowledge stuffed into his brain, words not his own: The Path Continues, Felix Nevarre.

He knew he only needed to flee, to run into that doorway. But to do so would be abandoning his home to this...thing. A creature of darkness and jealous endings.

His phone rang, still in his hand somehow. His mother. Felix tried to cancel it, but answered instead, and a tinny voice shouted shrilly over the line. "Where are you? Help! There are things! Bumble, help me! They're coming into the house!"

The beast grinnedgrinned!and spread down, toward the city. Toward his family.

"Bumble! Help me!"

Like tearing out his own heart, Felix hurled himself into the door of light.

Felix landed atop a plush carpet that smelled of dust and stale air. Everything came back, all of who he was and what he had doneor hadn'tin the Path was vivid. He didn't move, not for a while, letting the shame of it all wash over him.

There was nothing I could do. Right? I couldn't stay behind. It wasn't even real! Felix clenched his teeth and fists, straining every muscle as if physical exertion would chase away his self-recriminations. I had to leave!

A soft cooing came from above, along with the scent of almonds and corn chips. A huge, feathered mass laid atop his head, so light he barely felt it, but warm and soft. Their bond shimmered, but Pit said nothing. They simply laid there.

Notifications blinked at the corner of his vision. Eager for the distraction, Felix toggled them open.

+13 AGL

+11 DEX

+9 EVA

+16 WIL

+23 INE

+21 AFI

+15 ALA

System energy surged into him, met by the Dissonance of his core. Colorless power and dual cores coruscating into a fountain of potency that arched Felix's spine. He convulsed, throwing Pit from him and felt his everything burn and freeze, until there was nothing but the struggle to hold onto himself.

You Have Walked The Chosen Path(s)!

Congratulations!

You Have Received An Omen (x3)!